Category: Thoughts and Meditations

“We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers” – 1 Thessalonians 1:2

Who do you pray for like this? The Apostle Paul barely knew the Thessalonians. He’d spent a brief period of time in the city, shared the good news of Jesus Christ, started some churches, and then had to hurry out of town. Nonetheless, they made such an impression on him that he prayed “without ceasing” for them. He lifts them up in prayer, gives thanks for them and their faithfulness, and prays for their spiritual growth in Jesus Christ.

So, who do you pray for like this? If you aren’t currently praying for anyone like this, perhaps it’s time to start! Who’s made an impact or impression on your life? For whom are you most thankful? Whose faith inspires you or whose faith do you want to see grow? Pray for that person like Paul prayed for his friends. Pray for them regularly, daily, perhaps even constantly. Pray for them by name. Lift them before God’s throne of grace and mercy that He may bless them abundantly with all the infinite riches of His mercy, grace, wisdom, kindness, goodness, and power. Change someone’s life through devoted, joyous prayer! #FollowJesus

“And said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.’” – Luke 24:46-47

The gospel accounts all reveal that Jesus had one particularly important topic on His mind after His resurrection. He urgently wanted the good news of Jesus Christ to be proclaimed to ALL nations. Not many. Not some. Not a select few. Not a favored one. ALL nations were to be offered the chance to repent of their sins and believe in Jesus Christ as Lord.

Jesus went to the cross, died, and rose from death to save people from EVERY ethnic group, tribe, language, and nation by God’s grace through faith in Him. His priority instruction to His followers before He ever ascended to heaven was for them to be serious about sharing good news all over the world, not just nearby. If you’re a follower of Jesus, then your Lord’s priority needs to become your priority as well. Yes, there are people all around you who need Jesus, so share the good news with Him. However, you must also be part of your King’s Great Commission.

There are many ways you can get involved. You don’t have to do them all, but you should let the will of Jesus compel you to dig into at least one way to reach the nations with good news! Learn about missions and pray for one or more unreached people group in the world. Operation World and the Joshua Project provide great resources for that. Support mission sending agencies that are focused on the unreached and frontier people groups of the world – those with little or no active witness to Jesus. Mobilize support within your church, small group, or circle of friends to pray, send, or support missionaries to those who’ve never even heard of Jesus. Go yourself, whether for a short period of time or perhaps longer. Welcome people from an unreached group into your community and home, demonstrating to them the love of Jesus and the truth of His life-changing good news.

Jesus has work for you to do. Will you #FollowJesus ?

“The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid.” – Luke 23:55

While the men had mostly scattered when Jesus was arrested, the women were faithful in following him to the end. Thus we can be confident that Jesus was truly dead and that there was no confusion about where he was buried. The women knew exactly where their Master’s body lay after the horror of His death on the cross. They’d marked the location well in their minds because they planned to come back on Sunday morning.

Hence their confusion and surprise when the tomb was empty on that Resurrection Sunday. They went to where they knew Jesus lay but His tomb was open and His body was gone. Expecting to find a decomposing body they’d come to anoint, they found angels instead and heard confirmation that what Jesus had long promised was true. Jesus rose from the dead, victorious over sin and its payment, which is death.

Soon they would see Jesus with their own eyes, touch Him with their own hands, and be changed by their absolutely certainty regarding His death and resurrection. Soon, they would turn the world upside down and share the best good news in the history of the universe, good news that’s still perfectly good today. Jesus is alive! He’s ruling and reigning in heaven at the right hand of God the Father. He has absolute authority over all things, including your life, and He offers forgiveness, renewal, reconciliation, and eternal life to everyone who believes in Him.

These eyewitness accounts are trustworthy and true. Jesus died. Jesus was buried. Jesus rose from the dead. Jesus ascended into heaven. Jesus will return. Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved! #FollowJesus

“And he said to him, ‘Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.’” – Luke 23:43

As Jesus was dying on the cross, a man beside him was saved. Not from physical death but from spiritual death. His sins were forgiven, He was given new life in Jesus Christ, and paradise was his eternal destination and home. What did this man do to be saved? Absolutely nothing!

He didn’t take a single class. He didn’t do a single good deed. He wasn’t baptized. He, too, was nailed to a cross and dying. He couldn’t do anything other than suffer and die. He did nothing to earn paradise. He simply believed that Jesus truly was the King of a new and eternal Kingdom, His Lord, and His Savior.

He isn’t unique. You, too, can do nothing to earn or accomplish your salvation. In our human weakness, foolishness, selfishness, and sinfulness we can’t ever do anything to earn God’s forgiveness. Thankfully, Jesus already did everything required for our salvation on that cross. There He died as a sinless sacrifice to pay the penalty for your sins. Three days later, He rose from the dead, His sacrifice accepted and sufficient for your salvation. Like that thief on the cross beside Him, all you need to do to be saved is to believe in Jesus. “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)

Of course, once you’re saved, if you aren’t actually dying in that moment, then Jesus has called you to live like the new creation you are. You are to worship, grow in holiness and your knowledge of Jesus and His commandments. You are to live in imitation and obedience to Him and in devoted service to God’s Kingdom. He calls you to live a changed life, but the living of that life isn’t what changed you. God’s grace changed you through faith in Jesus Christ. #FollowJesus

“And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” – Luke 22:15

Jesus always had a marvelous, perfect sense of timing. He knew everything that was going to happen to Him and His suffering and death came as no surprise. In light of that, it’s beautiful to see His deep desire to fellowship with His disciples before His arrest and crucifixion. Knowing how lonely He would be hanging on that cross, Jesus longed to spend one final night together, eating, talking, laughing, loving, teaching, and praying together.

This final Passover meal would celebrate God’s miraculous salvation of His people, leading them from slavery to freedom. The next day, Jesus would die on the cross to miraculously save God’s people once more, leading us from slavery to sin and death to freedom and eternal life. At that dinner, Jesus took the elements of the Passover meal and taught His disciples how they had always pointed toward His sacrifice. He turned the Passover meal into the Lord’s Supper we celebrate today. “This is my body…”. “This is my blood…”. Powerful, tangible symbols of our freedom and its terrible cost.

He would help them vividly see that His sacrifice was establishing God’s new covenant of grace, a covenant sealed by the innocent blood of Jesus, the Son of God. What a meal!!! No wonder Jesus had long been looking forward to it. By His grace, we get to partake of that meal ourselves every time we gather around the Lord’s Table. There we find spiritual nourishment as we participate in the meal that was our Savior’s heart desire! #FollowJesus